Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff takes it's name from a famous Russian count Stroganoff, but it was his chef who invented this dish for the count in 1890s ....
Even if the chef was French and invented this dish according to the traditional French cuisine (fried small pieces of meat sauteed with a thick sauce), this dish however is considered to be a typical Russian dish. 
 
 

INGREDIENTS:
Servings: 4

400g beef 
1 big onion 
150ml sour cream/ Greek yogurt
100ml chicken stock
1tbs Dijon mustard
2-3 tbs tomato puree (1.5tbs tomato paste)
2 tbs flour
25-30g butter 
4-5 tbs oil
1 bay leaf 
black pepper
salt


Note: The importance of chosing a tender cut of meat will result in the tenderness of the dish. SO choose fillet, tenderloin, sirloin or the other cuts of meat that are indicated for short cooking time.

 
1. Beat the meat with the meat tenderizer and dry it with a paper towel. 
2. Cut the meat into sticks, about 0.7 cm thick.

3. Flour the meat with 1-2 tbs of flour, this will result in nicer brown colour and the flour will also block the juices inside the meat.

4. In a large frying pan melt a tablespoon or two of butter with 2 tbs of oil and fry the meat till it looks glossy over a high heat stirring with a wooden spoon..
Note: If the pan is too small and the meat is too much for it, then fry the meat in two sessions.  

5.  Chop the onion into thin slices.
6. In a saucepan melt the rest of butter and add the rest of oil, cook the onion slices with the butter-oil mix over the low heat stirring onstantly till the onion gets transparent.
 

7. Add the meat to the onions and stir. Keep cooking at low heat.

 8. In a bowl mix the sour cream with the Dijon mustard and chicken broth.
Note: I used Greek Yogurt with 10% fat in this recipe as I couldn't find sour cream. Greek yogurt is a thick type of yogurt and may substitute sour cream in the recipes.

9. Add sour cream mix to the meat and onions and stir well.
Note:  Keep the heat low as the high temperature will break the sour cream into fractions and it will not look like smooth sauce but will become just lumps...  

10. Add some tomato puree to the dish, the sauce should become slightly pinkish.
11. Add some pepper to the sauce and a bay leaf and keep cooking for about 15 minutes over the low heat.

12. Salt the dish towards the end of cooking to your taste.
13. Serve the dish with mashed or fried potatoes, or some rice as an alternative.

 

Priyàtnava apetìta !!!

Приятного аппетита!!!